Ice Age Shipping Drabble! Request a story now!
by KymanFTW
Summary: Comment with what characters you want shipped together from all 4 movies and I'll 100% do it! :P
1. Introduction

**Hey guys! So I've got a new story idea. You guys comment requesting shippings, and I'll make a short story/drabble about them! It can be as obvious (Peaches and Louis, Diego and Sheera ect) or as weird (Granny and Scrat, Crash and Ethan ect) as you want! I'll definatly 100% do it! You can also have multiple requests, and if you don't wanna comment you can always PM me one, but do comment telling me you've PM'ed me 'cus I never check them. XD Thanks, and I look forward to reading your comments!**

**Oh, and I forgot to mention, it doesn't just have to be Ice Age 4 characters! It can be any character you want, new and old! (Yes Buck fans, he can and probably will be in it)**

**Some ideas I had already include:**

**~Louis and Peaches**

**~Ethan and Peaches**

**~Crash and Louis**

**~Eddie and Louis**

**~Scrat and Louis**

**~Diego and Sheera**

**~Diego and Sid**

**~Diego and Manny**

**~Sid and Manny**

**~Buck and Louis**

**~Sheera and Louis**

**YES I LIKE LOUIS OKAY! XD Yes I have issues. And I don't plan to deal with them any time soon. **

**Oh and I can also include a song in the drabble if anyone wants. OH! And if you want an OC included feel free to ask, just tell me a bit about them, link me to a picture if you want, whatever. ;) I'm good at improvising. **

**And yes I am just drabbling on and on and on to make this seem longer. You can stop reading now if you want. I said now. Now. Now. Now! Now! Now now now! Why are you still reading! XD I'm sorry I'm bored. But go and comment! Now! bye!**


	2. Scrat and Granny

It was a cold night. Scrat was off in search of his acorns, previously lost after he selfishly destroyed all of Scratlantis. It was dark, extremely dark, and Scrat could see little but a small glowing light in the distance. Was this it? Was he dead? Being lead into the beautiful gateway to heaven? No. He followed the light, onwards and onwards for what felt like hours until he finally heard music.

Music, singing, laughing, talking and dancing echoed throughout the dark forest. People! Civilisation! Perhaps they would have some of his beloved acorns and possibly be willing to share...?

He scampered through the crowds of people, most ignoring him or just not seeing him at all. None of them seemed to be eating or have any food at hand. He eventually found his way to a large crevice in the rocks, a place buzzing with sounds and glowing with light from a fire. He peered inside it anxiously. Inside were three mammoths, two sabres, two opossums and two sloth. One of the sloth were eating a large, juicy apple. Or, well, trying to.

"Dangnabbit! Sid where've ma' teeth gone this time?" the elderly female sloth spat.

Scrat looked around the cave wearily, but nobody seemed to of noticed him yet. That's when he saw them-gleaming and shining at the back of the cave underneath a small fern-no, not his beloved acorns, but the sloth's false teeth.

"I don't know Granny." a younger, weirder looking sloth sighed, rolling his eyes. "You want me to chew your apple for you?"

This 'Granny' person nodded sadly, handing over the shining apple.

"Neh! Neh!" Scrat suddenly cried, dancing around and pointing to the fern.

"GAH! IT'S A RAT!" Granny screamed, flailing her arms around wildly.

"Calm down Granny, it's just a cute 'lil squirrel." Sid spoke softly. "Hey there little guy. Coochy coochy coo!"

"SID! GET RID OF IT NOW!" Granny screeched, eyes blazing.

"What's the old bat squawking about this time?" a large brown Mammoth sighed, walking over.

He then caught sight of Scrat. "Ew what is that?" he said, staring rudely at him.

"ITS A RAT! A BIG HAIRY RAT!" Granny screamed again, eyes brimming with tears.

Scrat suddenly dashed behind the fern and started dragging the teeth from behind it. Sid noticed this and ran over to help.

"Granny! Granny look! The little squirrel found your teeth! Aw isn't that sweet!" he said, handing the teeth over.

"He what now?" Granny looked down bewildered at Scrat. "Aw, well isn't that something, the little rat found ma' teeth! Come see me precious!"

Scrat nervously clambered up Granny and sat bemusedly on her head looking down.

"Oh no, don't tell me, now she's gone and found herself another pet." Manny sighed.

"You, little guy, can be called Precious. The land Precious that is. Oh boy you must be hungry, here, have this apple with me." Granny grinned a toothy smile up at Scrat.

Scrat grinned back. For now this apple would do, but maybe, just maybe, this 'Granny' person would find him some acorns one day.

Granny planted a big wet kiss on Scrat's nose and Scrat blushed crimson and turned away slightly.

But Scrat, or Precious, was happy.

That was for sure.


	3. Louis and Buck

It was a warm summer's day. A lot of the animals were down at the beach, either relaxing on the soft sand soaking up the sun, paddling in the cool surf or swimming right out to sea for a spot of fishing.

Peaches was in the sea with Crash and Eddie, splashing and playing happily with them. Surprisingly enough, the two opossums were actually very good swimmers.

"Hey Diego!" Crash cried mockingly.

"Why don't you come out and swim with us?" Eddie finished.

Diego snarled and ran at them, but stopped when the tide started lapping at his paws. He leapt away sharpish.

"Meh, I can swim if and when I want to, but with you two overgrown rats infesting the water, who knows what I could catch." Diego said back cooly, anger tingeing his voice.

"Oooh, burned!" Crash shouted at Eddie.

"It was directed at both of us!" Eddie snapped back.

"Nuh uh!"

"Yeah huh!"

"Nuh uh!"

"Yeah huh!"

"NUH UH!"

"YEAH HUH!"

Suddenly the two opossums were fighting violently under water, appearing every few seconds for air before going back under.

"Seriously?" Peaches sighed, wading out of the shallows and collapsing on the sand to dry off.

"H-hey Peaches." a quiet voice spoke.

"Oh! Louis hi, I didn't see you there!" Peaches looked up and smiled at her molehog friend.

"Uh...Peaches? I've been meaning to ask you something for a while..." Louis started suddenly.

"Really? Uh...okay then, what?" Peaches frowned and tilted her head slightly.

"Uum...could we maybe go somewhere a bit more private?" Louis whispered.

Peaches raised her eyebrows but said nothing and nodded, allowing Louis to lead her off the beach and into the crisp, dark jungle leading up to it.

"Listen Peaches, you...you like me, right?" Louis spoke quietly, looking up intently at his mammoth friend.

"Louis!" Peaches laughed. "What a silly question, of course I do! You're my best friend for crying out loud!"

"Yeah..." Louis mumbled. "Friend...see, Peaches, I was wondering, if maybe, well...we could be, uum...more than just friend!" Louis spoke the last part so quickly Peaches wasn't sure she heard it right.

"WHAT!" Peaches spluttered, saliva spraying from her mouth.

Then, to Louis's complete shock and horror, she started laughing!

"Oh Louis..." she managed to say in between bursts of laughter. "More than just friends...oh, you're so funny Louis! More than just friends, ha!"

"Yeah...uuh...haha..yeah..." Louis mumbled, eyes fixed to the floor, mouth forced into a smile. But he couldn't stop it. Couldn't stop the tears from falling, at first light but then heavy, pounding down on the floor at such a pace he couldn't bare to be in front of Peaches any more.

So he ran. He leapt into the ground and started burrowing away, eyes forced shut, ears hearing Peaches cries for him to come back, her confused apologies.

Soon it started to feel as though he'd been underground forever, but he didn't care, all he knew was that he wanted to be as far away from Peaches as possible.

Finally he stuck his head out for some air...and immediately went back under. Standing in front of him, it's foot literally a centimetre from his face, was a dinosaur!

Louis started hyperventilating. Dinosaurs weren't real, surely! They were just myths, rumours, imaginary or long extinct creatures from children's bedtime stories.

Sure Peaches and the others had told him her birth story before, with all the Dinosaurs and that weasel thing Ruck or Muck, something silly like that, and just as everyone else had Louis had lapped it up and nodded as though he believed it, but deep down he'd also slightly doubted it.

He felt as though he should apologise to Peaches for not believing her, but then it dawned upon him that he might never see her again. Especially if he was suddenly eaten by a vicious dinosaur.

He crept up out of the dirt again, silently, and looked around. Dinosaurs were all around, in the sky, in the trees, on the ground. He wondered just how far he really had gone. It felt as though he was on a completely different planet, a different time in history, a different universe.

His stomach rumbled. He gulped. His throat was dry. He knew he could dig no longer without some sort of food and liquid inside of him.

He slowly clambered out of the hole and scurried behind a tree. He looked up and screamed. A large winged dinosaur was hanging down sleeping, a bit like Peaches, Ellie and the opossums did back home.

Home. Why oh why had he ran away? He could of gone back, pretended he'd been joking all along, surely Peaches would buy it? She had been laughing pretty hard about it after all.

No. He knew fine well she wouldn't believe it, just as he also didn't. He loved her, and that was the end of it. But nobody loved him, not even his own family, and that was just fine.

He leapt away from the tree and carried on, eyes scanning for signs of food or water. That's when he saw him. A tall, skinny weasel with sticky-out fur, a long, winding tail, and one, large eye, the other covered with a green leaf fastened into a patch, another leaf used as a sash slung across his body.

Louis's eyes grew wide. Something about the weasel made him go all tingly inside, and for some reason he felt himself blush just looking at him. If he'd been born female then he realized, with slight horror, he'd probably end up with a crush on him. Which was a bit weird seeing as the lanky weasel was the polar opposite of Peaches.

Peaches! Louis suddenly realized who the weasel was. Ruck! Or Muck, or Tuck, or whatever he'd been called. Louis's memory wasn't much.

"Hey, hey you!" the weasel suddenly cried.

Louis jumped up in shock and looked behind him.

"Yeah you! Get over 'ere!" he snarled.

Louis scurried quickly over to him, but didn't at all fear him. If the weasel planned on starting a fight he could just mention Sid, Manny or one of the others and he'd no doubt instantly think of him as a friend.

"What's a fine lady like you doing hanging about such a dangerous area, eh?" the weasel spoke.

Louis frowned. Was this some sort of joke? Then he twigged it. He looked at the one-eyed weasel, saw him squinting enough with his one good eye, and realized immediately-the weasel thought he was a girl. Louis didn't have time to be offended, as suddenly the weasel was right up in his face, eyeing him up and down suspiciously.

"My what a pretty young thing you are." the weasel said flirtatiously. "The name's Buckminster. But you can call me Buck. Number one adventurer in all the land."

Buck! He'd been close.

Louis frowned, unsure what to do. If he talked then Buck would no doubt realize he was a male. But that's what he wanted...right? Why was he even questioning telling Buck he was male? Was it because he...he wanted Buck to like him? To tell him how good looking he was? Louis bit his lip, then finally decided just to nod.

"No need to be shy baby, nobody but you and I can speak plain English. All this dino's are as thick as them tar pits they're always landing themselves in." Buck laughed slightly.

"M...my name?" said Louis in a voice that sounded nothing like his own. It sounded...feminine. "My name is Louise. Nice to meet you Buck."


	4. Manny and Ellie

"Ellie...?" Manny spoke suddenly into the still night.

"Yes honey?" Ellie said, opening one eye.

She was hanging from a tree branch alongside Peaches, Crash and Eddie, all whom were fast asleep and snoring. (well, Peaches wasn't snoring that much, it was Crash and Eddie making all the sound)

"D'you ever feel like...like things have changed around here?" Manny said quietly.

"Changing? Honey what do you mean?" Ellie opened both eyes now and turned to look down at her forlorn-looking mate.

Manny sighed. "I guess...I guess I just feel lost, y'know? I mean, now that Peaches has Weiner, Diego has Shira, Sid has Granny and Crash and Eddie never even seem to be around any more, don't you feel just a bit...well, lonely?"

Ellie gasped and leapt down from the tree and walked silently over to her mate, concern in her eyes.

"Oh Manny, lonely? Are you kidding me? Just because our herd is growing, in both age and size, doesn't mean you need to feel left out of things or lonely! Change should be celebrated, you know I always tell Peaches that."

Manny sighed and nodded his head. "I guess. It's just, I miss the old times, y'know? Back before everything got so complicated."

Ellie smiled fondly at Manny, and squeezed his trunk gently with her own.

"Oh Manny." she said, big eyes looking deep into his. "If it wasn't for change, you and I would of never crossed paths. You never would of met Crash, Eddie and I and we never would of met you, Diego, Sid or Buck. And then where would we all be, huh? Peaches certainty wouldn't be here and Shira neither no doubt. All that matters is we all love and care for each other, right?"

Manny smiled a genuine smile up at his mate, and beamed with pride at how happy he was to be with her.

"You're right Ellie, thanks for opening my eyes to what was right in front of me all along." he said, nuzzling her side with his head.

"You're very very welcome Manny." Ellie smiled back.

"I love you Ellie." Manny said quietly, stretching and yawning.

"I love you too you big softy!" Ellie giggled, tucking him back to bed.

"Nighty night." Ellie cooed, tickling him under the chin like she used to do with Peaches when she was a child.

"Night." Manny said.


	5. Gupta and Shira

"Captain? Captaaaaaaain!" Gupta shouted towards the sky, face dripping with sweat.

He sighed and collapsed on a rock, his unique skull-and-crossbones pelt hidden from view.

"Where is everyone...?" Gupta whimpered, eyes falling to the ground.

He wriggled his toes in the warm sand, and finally settled to sleep, paw sleepily rubbing against the rock, sharpening his shining claws.

"G-Gupta!" a familiar female voice suddenly spoke.

Gupta's eyes suddenly flew open.

"Shira!" he grinned, leaping into the air. "What a great relief to see you!" he cried, running over to hug her, competly forgetting about her past treasons.

"Do you know of where Gutt is?" he asked her, eyes shining.

"Gupta...Gutt's dead. I saw him killed by the Sirens." Shira spoke solemly.

"D-dead? Oh dear..." Gupta's face fell. "What about the others?" he pushed. "Raz, Squint, Flynn?"

"I don't know about them, but I haven't seem them at all and we've been on this island for about a month now."

"We?" Gupta frowned, nose wrinkled in confusion.

"Yes, me and my new herd. You may know them as the ones who cost Gutt his boat and his first mate pirate."

"First mate? No, not you, Squint was made first mate after you...betrayed us." Gupta snarled.

"Whatever!" Shira snapped back. "I don't need them, and I certainly don't need Gutt. I have friends now, family. A true one. And a mate."

"A mate...?" Gupta looked hurt.

"Yes, what's it to you?" Shira growled.

"Oh, nothing I suppose..." Gupta mumbled, tears in his eyes. Suddenly, he burst into a full-frontal sob. "It's just I wish I had a family to go to!" he cried between sobs, sucking his thumb and rocking backwards and forwards like a big baby.

"Sheesh." Shira rolled her eyes. "Calm down okay, I hate cry-babies!"

Gupta stopped momentarily.

"You can come live with us, okay? As long as you promise no funny business! You might have to become vegetarian for the most part, the guys around here are pretty sensitive about that kinda thing, y'know?"

Gupta's smile was so wide Shira found herself almost laughing.

"Oh yes yes yes! I would love that ever so much!" he said, seemingly forgetting he was supposed to be a rough 'n tough pirate.

"C'mon then, get on my back." Shira smiled, and Gupta leapt on.

"I always liked you Shira." Gupta said quietly into her fur.


	6. Diego and Sid

_***Just a note to say the song included in this was requested. I changed some of the words so it made a bit more sense for the story and just for fun. XD**_

_This was a triumph_

_I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS_

_It's hard to overstate my satisfaction_

Diego walked proudly through the disgusted crowd of omnivores, carrying a huge, blood-drenched stag in his mouth.

_Hunting for food. We do what we must because we can. _

_For the good of all of us. _

_Except the ones who are dead_

People gasped and shuddered, growled and snarled, all showing in some way their disgust and discontent at what Diego had just gone out and done. Even a few of the younger animals burst out crying at the gruesome scene.

_But there's no sense in crying over every mistake_

_You just keep on trying 'till you run out of cake_

_And the hunting gets done and you have a full tum_

_For the people who are still alive_

Diego just smiled and pushed past the crowds of onlookers, eyes shining like stars at the thought of what Shira would think upon seeing his biggest kill to date. He could see the crevice in the rocky cliff just a few meters away. Shira was leaning upon the entrance to it, a flirtatious look in her eyes, a saucy smile on her face that Diego knew could mean only one thing.

It seemed he'd be getting afters once his stag had been finished off.

But then he realized. He turned around and looked in disgust. Shira looks had not been directed at him. They'd been directed at a buff mammoth standing weight lifting over by a bunch of prissy female ones. Diego shuddered. He...he'd thought they'd had something. He expected they where as good as mates, but no, she was too busy flirting with animals not even her own species.

_I'm not even angry_

_I'm being so sincere right now_

_Even though you broke my heart and killed me_

_And torn it to pieces_

_And threw every piece into the fire_

He sighed and turned away. He might forgive her, in a while, but for now he wasn't going to pretend like that'd never happened. He'd eat alone, away from all the unforgiving eyes.

_As they burned it hurt because I was so happy for you_

_Now these parts of bones make a beautiful line_

_And we're out of food we're realising on time_

_So I'm glad I got burned_

_Think of all the things we learned_

_For the people that are still alive_

He sighed, however, when he saw who was coming towards him. Sid.

_Go ahead and leave me_

_I think I prefer to stay outside_

_Maybe you'll find someone else to help you_

_Maybe a mammoth_

_That was a joke, ha ha, fat chance_

_Anyway this meat is great, it's so delicious and moist_

"Oh my GOSH Diego, what is that!" Sid cried, looking just as disgusted as the others.

"Whsstwht?" Diego managed to say, meaning 'what's what?'.

Sid stopped to wipe the blood that had been sprayed from Diego's mouth upon his trying to talk.

"I mean what is that...that THING in your mouth? Yeesh!"

Diego sighed and reluctantly spat the meat out onto the cold ice at his feet.

"What's it look like fluff-for-brain? It's a stag. My kill. Not all of us are born vegetarians you know."

_Look at me, still talking, when there's hunting to do_

_When I look in there it makes me glad I'm not you_

_I've experiments to run there's research to be done_

_For the people who are still alive_

"Yuck, can't you at least eat fish or something? I mean 'cmon Diego-poo, a cute little kitty like you doesn't need ALL that meat for himself surely."

Diego winced at his adopted nickname. "DON'T call me that!" he snarled. "And what business of yours is it what I do and do not need to eat?" he growled angrily.

"C'mon Diego, come and play with me! Leave that big ugly slab of whatever and come have some fun!" he danced around Diego merrily, obviously not sensing his anger.

"Gah! Get lost Sid! I'm really not in the mood for your silly games right now!"

"Aww Diego-poo, it coulda been fun! I coulda made you another coral necklace since you keep losing them." he giggled.

Then something struck him. "Your moody mood isn't perhaps down to a certain female sabre by any chance, is it?" he asked, looking smug, a stupid grin plastered all over his face.

"Shut up!" Diego roared. "Sid I'm warning you!"

"Shira and Diego, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-GAH!"

Sid's neck was suddenly locked in Diego's paw.

"I am warning you Sid, you do NOT want to get me angry today."

Sid turned his neck to look Diego in the eyes.

"You wanna know what I think?" Sid said quietly, the smile still on his face.

Diego sighed and raised an eyebrow. "What, what do you think?"

"I think you're too good for Shira. Much too good. You deserve someone much much better."

Diego's eyes grew wide and he dropped Sid suddenly, shocked.

"T-that's what you think?" he muttered, taking a step back.

"Yup." Sid grinned.

Then he took Diego's paw and surprisingly Diego let Sid lead him down to the waters edge, leaving the rotten stag carcass behind for the vultures to finish.

"There you go kitty. Now go fish." he grinned.

"You know I don't like the water." Diego muttered.

"Don't worry, I know." Sid smiled. "That's why I'm coming in with ya!"

_And believe me I am still alive_

_I'm doing hunting and I'm still alive_

_I feel FANTASTIC and I'm still alive_

_While you are dying I'll still be alive_

_And when you're dead I'll still be alive_

_STILL ALIVE_

_Still alive..._


	7. Louis and Shira

_"Diego?" Louis said suddenly._

_"W-what? Who said that!" Diego cried. Then he looked down. "Oh, Weiner, you gave me a fright there. N-not that I ever get frightened, that is."_

_"Diego. I was wondering. How did you get Shira to like you? See, there's this girl I like and-"_

_Diego grinned. "Ah Weiner, coming to me for advice on the ladies eh? Good decision, I must say. You're smarter than you look. Anyway, to get a ladies attention, first, you gotta do some heroic to get her to notice you."_

_Louis nodded and smiled slightly. He'd already done that with Peaches!_

_"Next?" Louis pressed on._

_"Oh yeah, secondly, you gotta compliment her. Say you...oh, I dunno, like her hair or something. Better yet if she asks you, say, how does she look, then you answer with some really over the top compliment!"_

_Louis grinned. Check! He'd done that as well! It seemed to good to be true. He wondered if Diego was kidding with him._

_"Thirdly-" Diego started._

_"What's going on here?" Shira suddenly appeared behind the pair, making them both jump._

_"Oh, Weiner here was just asking me for advice on the ladies." Diego said proudly._

_"Oh really?" Shira raised a perfect eyebrow, earrings glimmering in the sun. "Well trust me Louis, do NOT take advice from this guy then." she said jokingly, nudging Diego._

_Diego blushed and nudged Shira back playfully._

_Louis sighed and rolled his eyes._

_"So, is everything Diego's been telling me wrong then?" Louis asked worriedly._

_"Yup, probably." Shira grinned. "Come with me Weiner, I'll teach you the real ways to make a lady like you." she ushered him away with a paw._

_Louis blushed crimson. "O-okay, if you say so Shira."_

_Diego snarled at Louis. "I'm watching you, Weiner!" he growled_

_Louis nodded worriedly, rushing off after Shira._

_"So, tell me Weiner, who is it you plan on impressing, eh?" Shira asked._

_Louis frowned and bit his lip._

_"Oh, I see." Shira smiled and nodded. "You'd rather not tell,huh? Well then, describe her to me!"_

_"Oh, well that's easy." Louis smiled. "She...she's furry. She's got...uum...nice hair? She's tall, I suppose, and I guess you could say she's just a bit bigger than me? And her smile...her beautiful smile, it, it lights up the whole room, honestly! And her big, shining eyes, oh, they're just gorgeous. And she's so kind and brave, fearless too, and smart, and...and..."_

_"Louis!" Shira cried, saying his real name for the first time._

_She liked how it sounded on  
her tongue._

_"Louis, Louis, Louis, say no more. I know exactly who you're talking about!" Shira grinned._

_Louis frowned. "Y-you do?" he suddenly turned bright red. "So...you don't think I'm silly for having a crash on her then?" he dared ask._

_Shira smiled softly at him. "Of course not. Who knows, maybe she might just feel the same way back." she said mysteriously._

_"She-she might! W-why, did she say something to you?" Louis's eyes widened and his toes curled in hopefulness._

_"____She__ doesn't talk to herself, you know." Shira giggled._

_Louis frowned. "Huh?" he raised his eyebrows._

_"You asked if ____she__ said something to you. She, is, well...me!"_

_Louis gasped and turned red. "Oh. Noooooo, Shira, you've got it all wrong, I wasn't talking abou-mmmmmph!"_

_Suddenly, Shira's lips were pressed to Louis's. It was an awkward, hard-to-manoeuvre kiss but a kiss all the same._

_Louis pulled back in shock._

_"Louis, you're cute, I'm not gonna lie. And sweet, kind, and soooo romantic." Shira smiled flirtatiously, showing off rows of fangs._

_"Oh gosh!" Louis panted, backing away._

_"Louis, do not fear me, I know who you really like and trust me, me and you? We are soooo much better for each other." Shira batted her eyelashes affectionately._

"B-but what about Diego?" Louis dared ask.

"Forget him!" Shira snapped. "It was fun whilst it lasted, but gosh is he _such_ a bore! And such an obvious match too. That's what I hate about this place, so obvious and stereotypical. Blah!"

"B-but you said...you said me and Peaches had no chance together...w-we're not an obvious couple..." Louis mumbled sadly.

Shira suddenly spat, saliva a spraying everywhere. "_What!_" she gasped. "You fancy_ Peaches_!" she spluttered. "I thought it was one of those possums you had the crush on!"

Louis burst out laughing. "You thought I liked _Crash or Eddie_! Shira, I like girls, not boys!" his whole body burned crimson.

"Those squirts are boys?" Shira raised her eyebrows. "Oops, my bad."

"What a weird, confused mess this has turned out to be." Louis sighed.

"You said it weiner." Shira muttered, turning to walk away.

"Shira, wait!" Louis suddenly cried.

"Yes...?" Shira said hopefully.

"If I wasn't so completely and utterly in love with Peaches, I would _totally_ date you." he grinned.

"Nice to know kid. Now just remember, you better not speak of this whole thing to anyone, or so help me your-"

Shira was silenced with a kiss.


	8. Louis and Manny

_"Manny, there's someone here to see you." Shira said softly, smiling slightly._

_"Who is it? Tell 'em I'm not in." Manny grunted._

_"It's someone called Louis." Shira replied._

_"Who, Weiner? Fine, find, send 'im in." Manny sighed._

_He'd been lying down relaxing in his favourite crevice in the rocks before being so rudely interrupted by the sabre. But curiosity had taken over as he wanted to know what Weiner so desperately wanted to tell him._

_"Hey there Mr Peaches Dad." Louis said quietly, shaking slightly below the enormous Mammoth._

_"WHAT!" Manny shouted down, nearly blowing Louis away. "SPEAK UP WEINER!" he cried, messing with him._

_"I s-said h-hey there Mr P-Peaches d-dad!" he managed to speak a bit louder._

_"Yeah what is it?" Manny sighed, already bored._

_"W-well sir. I was w-wondering i-if y-you'd allow me the h-honour of a-asking your d-daughter out on a d-d-d-date." Louis managed to splutter._

_"WHAT!" Manny cried, nearly falling back with shock. "Do you know what age she is! Only a child! How dare you!" he growled._

_Louis felt tears prick in his eyes. How stupid must he be to of even bothered coming all this way to ask a question he felt he already knew the answer too._

_"Manny, what's all this shouting about?" Ellie suddenly walked over to the pair. "Oh, well hello Louis sweetie." Ellie smiled down at the timid molehog._

_"This-this hooligan is asking for permission to ask our Peaches out on a date!" Manny spluttered._

_"Aww, well isn't that sweet! Of course you can honey, and I'm pretty sure I know just what the answer'll be!" she cooed._

_Manny stomped his foot down in outrage. "WHAT! Ellie how dare you go against my wishes like this!" he cried, face bright red._

_Ellie looked annoyed. "Manny, calm down this second! Are you forgetting what age Peaches is? What age Louis is? How Louis saved our Peaches life? Stop being so stubborn and silly, grow up and leave the kid alone!" she shouted._

_Louis slunk back, terrified. He hadn't wanted to start any sort of argument or fight with Peaches parents, just wanted a simple confirmation that asking Peaches out would be okay. He was pretty sure even if they did approve he'd probably chicken out and not have the guts to do it anyway._

_Manny stared hard at Louis, and if looks could kill, the poor molehog would most certainly be dead._

_"Mmmph..." Manny muttered._

_"What?" Ellie teased him._

_"I SAID mmmph!" Manny cried. "It means yes." he mumbled._

_"R-really! Oh boy wow wow wow! Thanks so much Mr Peaches Dad!" Louis leapt into the air in glee._

_"Please. Call me Manny. And just remember-hurt her and your dead, you got that weiner!" Manny added._

_"Y-yes sir, of c-course s-sir, I mean, uum, yes Manny!" and with that he rushed out of the crevice to find Peaches and (hopefully) ask her out on a date._

_"I'm so glad you finally saw sense and agreed." Ellie said triumphantly once the cave was empty._

_"Yeah well, I'd rather that little squirt than that Ethan kid or whatever." he growled, shrugging._

_"Of course." Ellie smiled._

_"But if you ask me." Manny said finnally. "It'll never last."_

_"Oh shut up!" Ellie growled, punching Manny before walking out._

_"Woman." Manny sighed, rubbing where he'd just been punched. "What're you gonna do with 'em?"_


	9. Diego and Shira

It was a dark night. There was a thick fog in the air and a cool wind that swept through the trees making eerie whistling sounds that refrained many from sleeping.

Diego and Shira were sleeping curled together, with Shira's head resting against Diego's chin, her body arched into his and they're tails intertwined. They waited until everyone was asleep before finally settling in this position, still slightly embarrassed at their relationship and the way they felt about each other.

Diego awoke suddenly to the sound of quiet sobbing, and he felt dampness on his chin. Tears. He leapt up suddenly, staring in shock at the crying Shira laying before him.

"Shira what's wrong!" Diego gasped, standing protectively over her.

"N-nothing's wrong, I just got s-something in my eye okay! Go back to sleep!" Shira snarled.

Diego knew he disliked being pushed into admitting things he didn't yet feel like admitting, so he sighed and settled back down besides her. At the feel of Diego's skin touching her own, Shira flinched and leapt away.

"I-I'm sorry..." Diego frowned, putting his arms out in surrender. "I'll stay back, okay?"

"Yeah, you better!" Shira muttered, padding out of the cave.

"Shira!" Diego cried in a hushed tone, not wanting to wake the others. "Come back! Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving here, okay Diego? I don't belong here, don't want to belong here, I-I need to find Gutt and the others, okay?" she snarled, starting to run.

"Shira, please, come back!" Diego cried, starting to sprint after her. "Just listen to me, please!" he shouted, tears stinging his eyes.

"What!" Shira hissed, eyes forming slits. "What on earth are you going to tell me that would possibly make me stay?"

"Shira, look, Gutt didn't love you. None of the pirates did. Did you not hear how they spoke to you? See how they treated you? They didn't even come back for you when the ship capsized and then when you returned to them safe Gutt made that filthy rabbit thing first mate instead of you! Why would you want to go back to that?" he panted.

Shira shook her head, outraged. "You just don't understand Diego, do you? Not that I'd expect you too... Look, Diego, I love you. And I'm sure you perhaps love me too. But you don't know me, my past, Gutt's past, anyone but your own past and secrets." she sighed and sat down on a rock.

Diego sat a few meters away, wearily sitting down, not wanting her to run again.

"I used to be part of a pack. My mother and father were in it, and I was automatically born into it when the time came. After my father was killed in a fight, mother disappeared one night and never returned. I had no one but the pack to be my family. But one night, my home village was raided by pirates, Gutt's crew. The others were young, all around my age and I was a mere child, but they were armed. My pack were no match for them. The alpha was murdered and with that the pack was instantly destroyed. Those who weren't already dead ran away with their blood family, but I had nobody. Nobody to protect me, nobody to care what happened to me. Squint had me at knife point, I was a slash away from death, but then Gutt saw me. He looked into my eyes and I could of sworn he saw my whole life in my eyes, everything that had happened and everything that could happen.

He told Squint to let me go, and he approached me and asked my name. Shira, I'd told him, though this was a lie. I was born Melody, perhaps due to my father's love of music and mother's sweet singing voice. But alpha female, her name had been Shira. She told me it meant brave, loyal and trustworthy, traits, I realized then, that any good pirate must have. Weather or not Gutt knew this or not, I never did know, but he allowed me aboard and he and the others trained me as any pirate ever is, and the crew accepted me happily enough. I was never lonely, I had Raz so it wasn't even like I was the only girl. Gutt had always favoured me, everyone knew it, so when he finally told Squint he was no longer first mate, I knew immediately who was. Squint had never liked me much, he held a grudge on me since the day he was denied the right to kill me, so I didn't feel particularity bad for him or anything.

Diego, things only started changing when you and your friend's were brought aboard. Nobody could control you, and Gutt's wishes were not fulfilled. Of course he would be angry, and with me being First Mate, the the blame was pinned on me. Then the ship capsized, and I was lost. I never even saw them, all I saw was water, and then darkness, and then...well, you know the rest. I didn't mean to fall for you Diego, I never wanted to, but love is one thing nobody can control about your life, not even yourself. My mind was scrambled, I wasn't thinking straight, so I betrayed Gutt to save you and your friends, my mind filled only with thoughts of a new life, new family, something better. But now I realize. There never was and never will be anything better than my pirate life. And you and your friends have stolen that from me.

Gutt is dead. The sirens got him. I had a dream tonight, a vision. My vision's are never wrong. I didn't see what happened to the others, all I know is that they're not close and even if they were they all hate me now, they'd probably kill me first chance they got."

"So then why are you running off like this to find them?" Diego finally spoke.

"I-I don't know Diego!" Shira suddenly started sobbing violently again, the tears refusing to stop no matter how hard she tried.

She didn't fight back when Diego ran to her, and started licking the tears tenderly from her face. He said nothing, he didn't have to. His eyes said it all.

"Diego, there is a reason I wanted to run away, but it's probably not a reason you'd expect. It...it's not one I expected either..."

Diego again said nothing. He just nodded his head slightly, as if saying 'carry on'.

Shira took a deep breath and brought her mouth to his ear.

"Diego...I'm pregnant." Shira whispered.

_To be continued..._


	10. Louis and Ethan

***Coming in chapter eleven: When Louis met Peaches!**

"Hey Sid, you seen Peaches anywhere?" Louis asked, a look of worry in his eyes

"Nope, sorry. Why, what's up?" Sid smiled back at the small molehog.

"Oh nothing, it's just-"

"She's with a bunch of Mammoths down at the watering hole." Diego suddenly interrupted.

Louis grinned before dashing off.

"You're welcome." Diego sighed sarcastically.

Louis dug faster than he'd ever dug before until he got to the side of the waterhole. It wasn't actually a waterhole. Well, it was, but not the one everyone else used. A lot of parents disproved of their children going there, as it was thought to be dangerous and a loose cannon.

You see, it was at the top of a very high cliff, a small waterfall had somehow had it's path to the sea blocked, and as a result of it's flooding there was now a large, deep, crystal-clear pool of fresh water taking up the proximity of the dish-like rocks.

It sounded safe enough, perhaps, but underneath the water where sharp, rugged rocks, and above them were even more heavier rocks, balancing ever so slightly, so that the tiniest of movement or one moment of contact could send the whole mountain down on you just like that.

_Typical Peaches._ Ethan thought to himself. Always did like going to the one place her Father didn't allow.

The reason for Louis's hesitation was the fact a certain male Mammoth was there, leaning in close to an uncomfortable-looking Peaches.

Sure, Ethan and the other mammoths didn't bother him much any more, they'd learnt to accept and almost appreciated him after he saved Peaches from the pirates, but still he knew none of them particularly_ liked_ him as a friend.

Louis could see Ethan talking, but he couldn't hear what he was saying to make Peaches feel so uncomfortable. And that's when it all went wrong.

"Ethan get off me!" Peaches cried, pushing him back with her trunk.

The other female Mammoths gasped and turned to see what was going on, many of them in the water or sunbathing beside it.

"Peaches, calm down, I was just-" Ethan started to explain, looking embarssed.

"No, you weren't just anything, now GET OFF ME!" Peaches screamed, pushing him full force with her head.

Ethan toppled back in shock, and, slipping on some seaweed, crashed back-first into one of the biggest rocks of the foundation, causing it to shake and begin to crack.

"Oh no!" Steffie, on of the female mammoths gasped.

"OMG, it's, like, totally gonna fall us!" Katie, the dumber of the too, cried back.

"Everyone, run!" Peaches gasped, starting to make a break for it.

Suddenly, Louis leapt out, eyes wide with fear.

"Peaches!" he cried, and the young female mammoth immediately turned her head.

"Louis!" she gasped, voice high-pitched with fear. "What are you doing here!"

"It doesn't matter!" Louis called. "Just don't move! Any more slight movement and the whole place goes down!"

Ethan, however, looked outrage. He looked up and behind him.

"Forget that dude! The whole place is gonna fall down and crush me!" he growled, and started to walk away.

As Louis predicted, several smaller rocks started to crumble and fall to dust above them.

"Peaches, no!" Louis cried, and ran to her, managing, somehow, to push most of her out the way of the landslide.

"LOUIS!" Peaches cried, tears streaming down her face.

The rocks collapsed around them, completely covering Ethan and Louis.

The others could only watch in horror.

"Everybody, RUN! We need to go get help for Louis and Ethan!" Peaches demanded, face streaked with tears, dust and blood.

Not her blood.

"Woah...w-where am I?" Ethan said shakily, looking around.

He could see nothing but darkness, though upon looking up he saw several tiny cracks of light coming in from above. He remembered little.

"Peaches...Peaches..." Louis muttered, eyes closed, mouth wide open and drooling. "Run Peaches...run..."

"Hello!" Ethan gasped, leaping into the air, though painfully hitting his head and back upon impact of the rocks above him.

"Peaches?" Louis said suddenly, eyes snapping open.

"No, it's Ethan. L-Louise...? Is that you?" Ethan said quietly, fear creeping into his system.

"Oh, it's you." Louis didn't try to hide his disappointment.

"I want outta here!" Ethan cried, starting to slam against some rocks.

Louis sighed and rolled his eyes. "It was you that caused it in the first place! But yeah, I know, I want out too."

Ethan said nothing, just continued to blankly start headbutting rocks, kicking them, pushing them, pulling them, anything to try and make them budge. But nothing worked.

"Louis, little guy, try and climb out through the crack and go get help!" Ethan said weakly, falling down and panting.

"Fine, lift me up then." Louis muttered.

Ethan grasped Louis in his trunk and lifted him roughly to the crack, trying to force him through.

"S-stop it!" Louis growled. "I'll get through myself."

He managed to get his face through slightly, but saw nothing and no-one, just piles and piles of dust and rock, the water close enough to gone.

"I-can't-fit!" Ethan sighed after a minute of trying.

"I'll try and make the hole bigger." Ethan growled, throwing Louis to the floor and clawing at the rocks angrily.

"Whatever." Louis sighed, flopping to the floor in defeat. "I'll just accept that I'm gonna die up here."

"Do NOT say that!" Ethan roared, voice tinged with fear.

"Pah." Louis grunted, past words.

"You know?" Ethan said suddenly, falling to the floor himself. "It wasn't what it looked like,with me and Peaches."

"No?" Louis muttered, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah! I was just saying that, she was real pretty and stuff, and she, like, should come in the pool with me, but she kept shaking her head and saying no, so, for a like, joke, I started grabbing her trunk and pretending to pull her in, y'know dude?" Ethan said sheepishly.

"No, I don't 'know dude', okay? If you could see she was uncomfortable then you should of just let her be." Louis sighed.

"It's only 'cus you like her." Ethan muttered, but Louis heard all right.

"What?" he gasped, standing up angrily. "_What_ did you say?"

"You heard me." Ethan snapped. "You have a crush on her, everyone knows it. If I'd been behaving like that with any other girl mammoth you wouldn't of batted an eyelid, but 'cus it was Peaches, you think you own her or something!"

"Own her! I believe that's the way you feel about every girl on this island!" Louis snarled, face pressed to Ethan.

"Get away from me!" Ethan cried, sending Louis flying to the back of the cave.

Louis was silent.

"L-Louis?" Ethan said extremely quietly, heart beating fast.

"Haha! Got you! You couldn't last a second in this cave without me!" Louis almost sneered, anger still bubbling inside him about Peaches.

"You don't know how lucky you are, do you?" he spat at Ethan in disgust.

"Lucky? How is being trapped in a bunch of rocks with a crazy hedgehog thing _lucky_!" Ethan growled.

"No, I mean about the whole Peaches thing. I mean, your the same species as her, same size, same age, her dad has no reason to disapprove of you, your family has no reason to disapprove of her, she actually_ likes_ you whereas me..."

Ethan snorted a laugh. "Dude, you're so serious, so depressing. You can have Peaches, okay? It was just a bit of fun, a bit of flirting, it's not like I'm gonna suddenly go down on one knee and propose to her in front of her dad is it? Besides, her Mom and Pop don't even like me, the think I'm a 'bad influence' and too 'judgemental' on her weird posse of freaks."

Louis snarled. " Weird posse of freaks! You mean her_ family_! And whatever, it's still not like I could ever date her. How would we..."

"Dude, dude, just shut up, okay? Everything with you is always 'what if' and 'how would we' and 'but I'm too...'. Just let life roll on as it does, don't you get it?"

"No, you know what, I don't get it! Not everyone can be as dumb as you, Ethan!" Louis said suddenly, surprising himself slightly. "Not everyone can be so naïve, so...so obvious to the world around him. Just because you live in your weird fantasy world and have these weird dodgy dreams that 'anything is possible', doesn't mean real life will turn out the same way." he panted slightly from saying so much.

"Dude, dude, calm down, 'kay? All I'm saying is, you've got a bigger chance with her than anyone else on this island, and don't go forgetting it!" Ethan said finally, arms crossed stubbornly.

"Whatever..." Louis sighed, closing his eyes and leaning back against the cool damp of the cave. "I just hope you're right..."


	11. Crash and Eddie

**Yeah, I know this isn't Louis and Peaches as promised, but this is just a quick Crash/Eddie/Louis drabble I did quickly for your enjoyment.**

"Hey Weiner! Get over here!" Crash called lazily from the top of a tree.

Louis looked up and just about jumped out of his skin.

"Oh! Crash, Eddie, I didn't see you there!" Louis said quickly, breathing quickly from the shock.

"Excuse me?" Crash frowned. "Do you see Eddie? No, I think not. We're not joined at the hip y'know!" he growled angrily.

"Coulda fooled me." Louis rolled his eyes. "What's up, you two had an argument or something?" Louis raised an eyebrow.

"N-no!" Crash growled. "He just went off for a while if you_ must _know! But anyway, he'd only get annoyed if I had this talk with you when he was here, so seeing as he's gone I might as well say it now!" he huffed.

"Talk?" Louis gulped.

"Yeah, you heard me, a talk." Crash smiled slyly, leaping down from the tree and landing in front of Louis. "Seeing as you fancy our niece so much."

"N-niece? I didn't know you or Eddie even had one!" Louis stuttered. "Let alone do I f-fancy her!"

Crash sighed and rolled his eyes. "Peaches." he said loudly. "Peaches is our niece. Ellie is like a sister to us, thus making Peaches our niece." he nodded triumphantly.

"Oooh, I get it now." Louis smiled. "But wait a minute! I do _not_ have a crush on Peaches okay! And even if I did it's not like we could...well, y'know..."

"You shut your filthy mouth!" Crash cried, slapping Louis harshly across the face.

Louis fell back roughly, tears stinging his eyes.

"W-what was that for?" he whimpered meekly.

"Talking about my niece in such a way! Indeed!" Crash said in a slightly mocking tone.

Louis snarled and turned to walk away.

"Whatever." he muttered, not turning around. "You're crazy. You and Eddie both are."

"We know." someone suddenly said, leaping out from a bush in front of Louis. "We both are."

It was Eddie.

"Gah!" Louis cried, falling back a second time that day. "You guys sure love scaring me don't you?" he muttered, getting to his feet.

"Eddie, bro!" Crash grinned, walking over and fist-pumping his brother. "What happened to you?"

Eddie shrugged. "Nothin' bro, I've been sitting in that bush the whole time! Listening in...watching..." he grinned sheepishly. "I knew you'd mess it up!" he sniggered.

Crash pushed Eddie lightly. "Shut up! Like you could do it any better!" he growled.

"Could so!"

"Could not!"

"Could so!"

"Could not!"

The two went on at this for a while before suddenly lunging for each other and starting to fight viciously on the grass. It was only play though, no matter how old they got, everyone knew that.

"Hey, hey Weiner, you agree with me don't you?" Crash said suddenly, butting Eddie away.

The two possums looked around in confusion, but Louis was gone.

Lone gone.

"Huh." Crash frowned.

"Huh." Eddie parroted.

"Some people huh?" Crash sighed.

"You said it bro." Eddie nodded.

"What a weirdo." Crash muttered.

"I know you are." Eddie grinned.


	12. Louis and Peaches

It was a crisp autumn day and a young Peaches was pacing backwards and forwards between two trees.

Peaches was small, fluffy and extremely cute. Even Crash and Eddie were taller than her and width wise, two of them side by side would of equalled one of her.

But you see, Crash and Eddie were on babysitting duties, or, as Manny called it 'making sure Peaches doesn't go anywhere she's not supposed to, as in, anywhere other than this area'.

And 'this area' was the three meteres situated between two large oaks, and if Peaches dared try to venture any further, Crash and Eddie would create a 'possum-sheild' in front of her, blocking her path.

But Peaches was smart.

"Hey Crash." she said in her squeaky high-pitched child voice.

"Yes?" Crash sighed, rolling his eyes.

All this babysitting really was boring him and his brother.

"Well..." Peaches started. "I was wonderin', who is cooler, you or Eddie?" she smiled sweetly up at him.

"WHAT!" Crash gasped, shocked. "Do you even need to ask? It's me, obviously."

"WHA!" Eddie gasped, outraged. "You're kidding, right? I am!"

"NO, I am!"

"No I am!"

"Am not!"

"Am too!"

"Am not!"

"Am too!"

"AM NOT!"

This then lead to a full-blown fight, with the two opossums savagly rolling about the leaves in their heated fray.

Peaches just smiled slyly and tiptoed past the pair, off to adventure.

"Peaches, wait!" Eddie called suddenly upon noticing her absence.

"Oh no! Her dad will KILL us if we don't find her!"

"Catch her!" Eddie cried, and the two possums started sprinting on all-fours after her.

Peaches looked behind her and gasped. They were gaining on her!

She started running as fast as her four tiny legs would take her and soon the opossums gave up and collapsed on a rock to cool down.

"We've...got...to find her...soon..." Crash panted.

"I...know...bro..." Eddie muttered weakly.

Peaches grinned and burst into joyous laughter. She continued running softly, so glad to be free, when suddenly...

She fell.

"Oof!" she muttered, turning round to see what had tripped her up.

It was a small hole of some sort, most probably a rabbit warren.

"Oh!" she murmured.

She walked back towards it and pushed her head through, wondering if she'd see anything.

"OW!" she cried, falling backwards.

Something was biting her trunk!

"Let...go!" she pleaded, tears stinging her eyes.

"Nnnnno!" the small creature growled, biting down hard.

Peaches started slamming the creature against the ground roughly with her trunk.

"Getoffgetoffgetoff!" she squealed.

Finally he released his grip, and the two creatures fell to the ground, exhausted and panting for breath.

Peaches opened her eyes and gazed upon what had been biting her trunk.

It was only a tiny young mammal, a hedgehog, she guessed.

"Why were you biting me?" she asked anrgily, getting to her feet.

"I-I'm s-sorry, p-please don't hurt me it-it's just y-you scared me!" the Hedgehog whimpered, tears falling down his face.

"Aww...it's okay I guess...sorry I scared you." Peaches comforted the furry creature.

"My name's Peaches, and if you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you...?"

"O-oh!" the rodent blushed slightly. "My name's Louis, and I'm a Molehog."

For the first time he gazed up fully at the large animal in front of him.

He gasped. She was beautiful. She had big, emerald eyes that shone brighter than the moon at night, and thick, flowing hair the colour of the crisp autumn leaves beneath his feet. His felt his stomach twist into a tight nought, his throat suddenly had a large lump in it that couldn't be moved. He gulped.

"Hello Peaches. You're a Mammoth, aren't you?" he dared ask.

Peaches grinned and nodded. "Yup, you bet! But my family is part Possum, how cool is that!"

Louis frowned slightly, thinking. Part Possum? Did that mean she'd be open to dating a Molehog?

"Y-you're very pretty." Louis dared say.

"Gee, thanks!" Peaches smiled, thinking nothing of it, despite the fact the young Molehog's face was now bright red and burning.

"So...wanna be friends?" Peaches asked shyly.

Louis grinned. "Sure! Defiantly!"

"Okay, good." Peaches smiled. "But...can I let you in on a little secret?" Peaches said quietly.

"S-sure...I guess..." Louis mumbled.

"I'm not meant to be here." she whispered.

"Huh?" Louis raised an eyebrow.

"You see, I ran away from Crash and Eddie, my uncles. They were supposed to be babysitting me." she said solemnly.

"Oh." Louis shook his head. "Me too I guess. Well, I didn't run away, but I burrowed. I kinda just go and do as I please. Mom sometimes notices, sometimes doesn't." he shrugged like it was no big deal.

"Oh? Well, that's cool." Peaches said quietly.

An awkward silence followed shortly after.

"Well...I better be going now." Peaches finally said.

"Yeah...me too..." Louis muttered.

"See you around?" Peaches looked hopeful.

"Yeah defiantly!" Louis grinned, face lighting up. "B-but first...can I tell_ you_ a secret?"

Peaches nodded.

"You're my first ever friend that isn't a Molehog." he said quietly.

"Really? Well, you're my first friend, full stop." Peaches said embarrassedly.

"Really? Cool." Louis smiled.

"Can we be...can we be best friends forever, d'you think?" Peaches asked timidly.

"I'd like that a lot." Louis grinned.


	13. Ethan and Peaches

"Hey Peaches!" Ethan called loudly from the other side of the forest.

"Oh, hey Ethan..." Peaches called back quietly.

"WHAT! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Ethan screamed, causing all the birds to take flight from the trees and decease.

"I SAID-oh for goodness sake, this is just silly!" Peaches sighed, starting to walk towards Ethan.

"Hey." Ethan grinned when Peaches finally made it to him.

"Ethan, what're you doing here? Shouldn't you be with all the other mammoths?" Peaches sighed.

"I...I brought you these." and from behind his back Ethan produced a large bouquet of flowers, all bright and shining in the sun.

"Oh wow, Ethan, these are...great! Just what I needed!" Peaches grinned.

"Just what you...neeeded?" Ethan frowned, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah! You see, Louis is sick, so I decided to make him some get-well-soon soup and these can be the key ingrediant!" Peaches smiled.

She was no longer as shy with Ethan as she previously had been since Louis had saved her life. The other mammoths had learned to except her and her molehog friend happily enough.

"Mammoths can make soup?" Ethan looked confused.

Peaches sighed and shook her head. "Well, with help from some people with opposable thumbs that is." she giggled. "Crash, Eddie and Sid promised to help me make it, but I've gotta find all the ingredients."

"I could...help you find them?" Ethan suggested.

"Really! Oh wow Ethan that'd be great!" Peaches squealed. "Okay, so here's what I need..." she suddenly produced a crumpled up piece of paper from somewhere. "Let's see...flowers. Check. Now we need, bark from an oak tree that someone's sleeping under, an acorn from an angry squirrel, the fur from a sabre's back, the tooth of a mammoth and the spike of a hedgehog."

Ethan fell silent. "Peaches are you...are you joking?" he gasped, waiting for her to crack up laughing.

Peaches frowned. "Uuum...no, why?"

Ethan snatched the list. "Acorn from an angry squirrel? Fur from a sabre? Tooth of a mammoth! Peaches, these things aren't edible! Plus, you'll probably end up getting killed finding them all!"

Peaches smiled. "So? Then it wouldn't be any fun would ti? Besides, Crash and Eddie gave me this recipe, it'd be rude if I didn't use it!" she giggled.

Ethan shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Whatever." he sighed. "Let's start."

Finding the first ingrediant was easy. There were lots of lazy animals around the place and getting a piece of bark from a tree they were sleeping under was easy, the animal didn't even wake up whilst they retreived it.

Next, however, was a lot harder.

"Peaches, there's not even any squirrels around here!" he sighed, looking around.

"Sure there is! Then we just have to get it angry and take it's nuts!"

Ethan laughed suddenly at how wrong that sounded.

"Ethan!" Peaches gasped, punching him lightly. "Don't be so immature!" she giggled, face bright red from laughing.

But it turned out easier than expected. Ethan accidentally stood on a weird-looking squirrel with big teeth, and in it's arms was an acorn. The only thing was, he was unconscious, not angry.

But Ethan just laughed and peeled back the acorn. "He'll be angry when he wakes up, right?" he grinned.

Peaches nodded slightly. "I...I guess so...it'll have to do." she shrugged at last.

The fur was a bit harder to get, however.

"You want to do WHAT! No, Peaches, you cannot take some fur from my back." Diego had growled upon the two mammoths politely asking him.

"Awww, c'mon Uncle Diego, pleeeeeeeeease!" Peaches had begged. "We need it for Louis!"

"Weiner? Huh, the kid's alright. You can have some of my fur if you want." Shira smiled, suddenly walking over.

"Honey, no!" Diego growled. "Fine!" he muttered to Peaches. "Take some of mine!" he huffed.

"Knew that'd work." Shira had winked at Peaches as they walked off happily with the fur.

"Now, the tooth of a mammoth..." Ethan muttered.

"Oh gee, that's gonna be hard. Who here is gonna sacrifice a tooth for our sake?" Peaches said worriedly.

"Don't _worry_ Peaches." Ethan said casually. "I know what to do."

And ten minutes later Ethan had returned with a tiny sparkling mammoth tooth.

Peaches gasped. "Where'd you get that!" she asked, shocked.

"It's my little sister's baby tooth. She'd hid it for the 'tooth fairy' to find, but I stole it. Mom'll get me into so much trouble when she finds out, but oh well." he grinned.

"Ethan! That's such a nice thing for you to do for me...I...I don't know what to say..." Peaches started to well up. "Other than...your poor little sister!" she laughed.

"Whatever." Ethan shrugged cooly. "And now, the final thing...a spike from a hedgehog?"

"D'you think Louis counts as a hedgehog?" Peaches wondered out loud.

Ethan frowned. "Doubt it. Don't worry, it's cool, we'll find a hedgehog somehow."

But they didn't. They looked all over, asked all over, shouted all over, but nobody knew of any hedgehogs.

"That settles it. We'll just have to go and find Louis and take one of his spikes." she nodded frimly.

"Fiiiine, whatever." Ethan muttered. "I'll wait here."

"Ethan, come with me." Peaches said softly.

"No!" Ethan growled angrily.

He'd been having fun with Peaches all day and had forgotten they were doing it all for Louis. He felt almost...jealous of the little squirt.

"Will _this _make you change your mind?" and suddenly Peaches was leaning in and kissing Ethan, and Ethan pushed back and kissed her too, taking control and leaning her back against a tree.

"Oh Ethan..." Peaches breathed, eyes wide. She hadn't expected that to happen.

"Peaches...don't talk...just kiss." Ethan smiled, and they kissed and kissed and kissed.


	14. Louis and Sid

It was Valentines day. One animal had spread the word and now everyone somehow knew that with each new year came yet another Valentines day.

Males were supposed to shower their mate in gifts, and in return the female would gift them with perhaps something even better...

Diego had Shira, Manny had Ellie, even Crash and Eddie had found two female possums in which to date, but Sid, for some reason, felt alone.

Everyone assumed he was fine with Granny but in reality, she was a pain in the butt and everyone knew it. She moaned, complained, verbally and physically abused him, she was his worst nightmare and even she knew it.

But there wasn't any other sloth, as far as he knew, on the island they now inhabited, so for another Valentines Day Sid was left alone.

"Granny!" Sid cried suddenly as he saw his Grandma rush off somewhere.

"What! I'm running late for my date as it is!" Granny growled.

"Date!" Sid gasped. "With who!"

"With Precious silly! Who else?" she spat, before rushing off, arms laden with fruit and fish to gift to him.

Sid sighed and shook his head sadly. Even Granny had her pet whale to spend Valentines Day with. For him there was nothing.

"Hey Sid." a quiet voice piped up suddenly.

It was Louis.

"Oh...hey there weiner..." Sid sighed sadly, looking down.

"Are you okay...?" Louis frowned, but didn't wait for an answer. "Have you seen Peaches anywhere?" he asked shyly.

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, that big mammoth Ethan or whatever his name is came and asked her out on a date."

Louis' face fell. He turned pale and his legs started shaking. His palms became clammy and he felt as though he was going to be sick.

He'd missed his chance. Peaches and Ethan would end up being mates for life. And he would be forever alone.

He gulped back tears.

"O-oh, I see. W-well thanks a-anyway Sid." Louis whimpered before turning to leave.

"No! Weiner! Wait!" Sid called.

Louis frowned and turned back. "Y-yes?" he said quietly.

"Maybe...I mean, call me silly, but, maybe me and...me and you could spend Valentines Day together? I mean look, I found this really neat rock." and Sid suddenly bent down and handed Louis a tiny, smooth stone shaped as a heart. It was beautiful.

"G-gee Sid wow. This is...well, amazing. Thank-you so much." he smiled up at the sloth. "I brought this for Peaches, but you can have it now." Louis sighed, and he suddenly ducked behind a tree and appeared a moment later with a gorgeous scarlet rose placed between his teeth.

"Peaches, to me, is as beautiful as this rose. But Sid, you to me are as handsome as, well...uum...a really handsome person." Louis muttered quickly.

Sid gasped, clutching the rose in his paws till they the thorns dug into his paw and blood began to form.

"Wow Louis, that...that means a lot to me." Sid said quietly, wiping away a tear in his eye. "Just got something in my eye." he said quickly.

"Y-yeah, me too." Louis nodded, wiping furiously at his own.

"Look at us, two handsome batchlers spending Valentines Day alone sobbing with each other." Sid sighed, pulling Louis in for a hug.

"I know right?" Louis mumbled into Sid's slightly foul-smelling fur.

"Don't get my fur wet, it starts to stink when that happens." Sid said, pulling away.

"Oh, sorry..." Louis muttered.

"S'okay, I forgive you." Sid grinned.

"Shut up!" Louis grinned back.


End file.
